Product Description

Warp6 is a space race to the center of a vortex, using dice as tokens and
number generators.

Guide your fleet of ships down the spiral path before your opponent does.
Your fleet is composed of four-, six-, and eight-sided dice. A die moves as
far as the number indicated on its face, but gets re-rolled whenever it
warps down a level by landing on another ship. If you can manage to warp
down six levels, youll reach the end in no time.

Product Reviews

When I first got the pair-of-dice games Warp6 and Knockabout I delayed in playing them. They where mostly rolled up pieces of felt with some dice and I wanted to play my newest German style board game. Well, don't let the homespun production fool you. With the simple felt board and sets of dice there is a clever and addicting game. It requires a great deal of thought and the dice rolls AFTER the dice themselves introductions excitement along with the small degree of chance. I will be watching this group for future products.

I had seen Pair-of-Dice games in GAMES magazine over the past few
years and had never given them much thought - other than to think that
using dice as pieces in games was an interesting idea. When I
received Warp 6 (Pair-of-Dice Games, 2001 - Greg Lam, Luke Wiesman,
and Brian Tivol), the game actually looked boring to me - a lot of
dice but not much to interest me. My first game played was lackluster
and disappointing, and I was ready to write it off. When reading over
the rules, however, I had missed a critical one (in which players can
not move and change a number on a die). When adding this rule, I
replayed the game and enjoyed the game quite a bit more.

Warp 6 is an excellent abstract game that seems to play equally well
with two or three players. There is a bit of luck in the beginning of
the game, but it soon settles down into a rather clever tactical and
strategic game. The dice and board aren't the highest quality, but
gameplay is fairly quick - an easy game to digest and play. The game
is actually heavier than it feels, offering a lot of choices and
options; but since players quickly move or change a die, downtime is
minimal, and Warp 6 is a fun little game.

A board is placed on the table, showing a spiral of dots, each
connected by a line with dotted lines that connect the rings to each
other. The spiral ends in a "black hole" in the middle, while the
outside ring holds the starting spaces for players' pieces. Each
player gets one eight-sided dice, two six-sided dice, and three
four-sided dice (in a two player game, players get three more dice.)
Each player rolls their dice and then places them on spaces on the
spiral, starting with the player who rolls the highest. This player
places one of their dice on the outermost dot, with each player then
placing one of their dice in alternating order down the spiral. Once
all dice are placed, the player who placed first also goes first.

On a player's turn, they can either move one of their dice or change
the number on one of their dice. When changing a number, a player can
either increase or decrease it by one. When moving a die, a player
simply moves a die spaces on the spiral equal to the number face up on
the die. If the die ends in an empty space, the turn is over.
However, if the die lands on another die, regardless of color, it
"warps". This means that the die travels directly down the dotted
line to the next ring of the spiral. If the space it moves to is
occupied, the die moves down another ring, etc. Whenever a die
"warps", it is re-rolled by the player before placed in its new
position.

Play continues until one player has gotten four dice (six in a
two-player game) off the board by either warping them to or moving
them into the black hole. A die that lands here (doesn't have to be
by exact movement) is removed from the game. This player is the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The game comes with a felt board, which is black with
a printed white spiral on it. The dice are standard dice - in three
colors (white, yellow, and black) - although they don't roll as well
as one would hope. I'm used to four-sided dice being problematic when
rolling, but even the eight-sided dice weren't very good. The dice
and board are the entire game and are housed in a plastic snap-shut
container. The game is fairly low quality but functional, and the
price of the game is quite low.

2.) Rules: The rules are on two sides of a page and include some
examples and illustrations. The game is extremely easy to teach;
everyone I've shown it to, including some folk who rarely play games,
have picked it up easily and understood it. Warp 6 has the essentials
of a good abstract game - short, easy to teach - but a bit of meat.

3.) Luck: A game that's solely made up of dice would seem to have a
good bit of apparent luck. But that's really not the case here.
While it is true that initial die rolls have some bearing on the game,
as well as the rolling of dice when they warp; it's much smaller than
you might think. The game rules even provide the option for players
to secretly choose what numbers their dice start with. But really,
the numbers work out quite well; if you roll high, the dice can move
quickly around the loop, while low numbers often have a better chance
of warping down quickly. The number rolled on a warped die is more
important, but I'm usually just pleased to get the die to warp, period.

4.) Strategy: It's fantastic how the dice interact with each other.
As the game starts, there's a lot of quick warping; since it's almost
impossible NOT to warp, the dice are too crowded together. And a
clever player (or someone who takes advantage of a poor move by
another player) can warp down multiple rings at a time. As more dice
move down, however, they often can find themselves stranded, with no
recourse other than to slowly move around the ring. Even the
eight-sided die at speed "8" still doesn't go as quickly as that
four-sided die that just dropped down three rings of the spiral.
Players must therefore use their dice in "teams," having them help
each other move downwards (the game reminds me of Magic Hill in this
regard). The player who wins often does so because of good
maneuvering of their own pieces. Yet tactics does play a decent role
in the game, as players must watch for openings to jump down using
their opponent's dice. More importantly, you must make sure that your
opponents never have the chance to use your own dice. I sometimes
moved a die simply so that my opponent couldn't use it as part of a
"ladder" to drop to the bottom of the spiral.

5.) Theme and Players: Okay, your dice are spaceships - right? And
they must travel down the spiral, using other ships to warp downwards
- okay? The believability of the theme isn't quite there, but it
doesn't matter; it's just an excuse to make this abstract strategy
game. It works quite well with both two and three players, which is
an oddity for this type of game. After several games with each, I
can't really decide which I like more. There's the slightest bit more
chaos in a three-player game but also more options and opportunities
to bounce off of other players' dice.

6.) Fun Factor: I think it's great how dice are used in this game,
yet I would in no way consider it a dice rolling game. It's great fun
to set up a chain by which you can warp a die four or five levels
down, and just as much fun to move a critical die in the chain that
your opponent was about to use. Players can set up moves in advance;
but because everyone can see each move, it's hard to surprise a good
player.

Warp 6 is one of my favorite recipes for an abstract strategy game - a
dash of luck seasoned with some easy but viable strategy. It's not
the best looking or themed game I've ever played, but it certainly is
worth the price. If you're looking for a two or three player abstract
game - one that can be played in about thirty minutes or less, then
Warp 6 is worth checking out. I've been pleasantly surprised by
recent plays and think that this will join what has become my regular
rotation of strategy games.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"

John McCallion
(Games Magazine)

December 31, 2002

Each player has six dice in his color: three four-sided, two six-sided, and one eight-sided. Dice begin on the first 18 spaces of the 127-space spiral path. Players in turn roll a die and place the number face up on the farthest unoccupied space from the Exit. On a turn you may either: (a) increase or reduce (by one) the value of a single friendly die; or (b) move a friendly die forward the number of spaces of its current value. A die that lands on an unoccupied space is transferred to the next inner ring; it must continue on this inward path until it finally reaches an unoccupied space, at which point it is re-rolled. Shortcuts created by making multiple transfers can be tremendously satisfying. You win when your fourth die reaches the central space. They key to victory is knowing how to make the best use of both enemy and friendly dice. With its simple and innovative rules, this captivating challenge is guaranteed to reward the patient, calculating strategist.

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